


cradle them and kiss them when they cried

by ShyAudacity



Series: let him be let him live [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Abuse, Archie Andrews Needs a Hug, Archie Andrews-centric, Hiram Lodge is A Bad Person, Hurt Archie Andrews, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Kidnapping, Minor Violence, Other, Protective Fred, Short One Shot, Vomiting, Worried Fred, at least in this fic, idk if i should use that tag here or not but oh well, what am i saying he's bad all the time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 06:19:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15575646
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyAudacity/pseuds/ShyAudacity
Summary: “Your father is going to drop out of the running for mayor.”Archie scoffs, “He would never do that.”“Are sure about that?” Hiram says stepping forward, stopping at Archie’s feet. “Because the last that I checked, your father’s the kind of man who would do anything for his child. Right?”“What are you-.”Archie cuts himself off after Hiram slams his foot down onto his left ankle, crying out at the pain that radiates through to his foot. He pulls at the ropes keeping him tied together, want nothing more than to get out of here.“I’d get comfortable if I were you, Archie… it’s going to be a long night.”ORArchie's time with Hiram after being taken as ransom.





	cradle them and kiss them when they cried

**Author's Note:**

> The first fic was from Freds perspective and I had gotten to wondering what Archie's pov would sound like, then this happened. 
> 
> Unbeta'd and title from

The last thing that Archie remembers is being hit over the head and stuffed into the back of someone’s car as he was getting the mail; finding himself in a warehouse _again_ didn’t exactly comfort him. 

Having Hiram Lodge in front of him when he finally opened his eyes, well, that definitely didn’t make him feel any better, either.

“Mr. Lodge? What are you-?”

“Incentive, Mr. Andrews,” He says smugly. “You’re going to help me get what I want.”

He feels his stomach tie into a knot. He begins to take in his surroundings: the empty space, the fact that he’s on the ground with his arms tied behind back around a cement pillar.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your father is going to drop out of the running for mayor.”

Archie scoffs, “He would never do that.”

“Are sure about that?” Hiram says stepping forward, stopping at Archie’s feet. “Because the last that I checked, your father’s the kind of man who would do anything for his child. Right?”

“What are you-.”

Archie cuts himself off after Hiram slams his foot down onto his left ankle, crying out at the pain that radiates through to his foot. He pulls at the ropes keeping him tied together, want nothing more than to get out of here.

“I’d get comfortable if I were you, Archie… it’s going to be a long night.”

The hours drag on while he sits there. There’re no windows or anything, nothing to give him some semblance as to what time it is. He tries yelling, hoping that someone might hear him, but the sound only echoes.

For a second, he thinks about digging around for his phone so that he could call his dad, but he couldn’t reach it even if he tried with how his hands are tied together. Just as well, he’s pretty sure he saw Hiram walking around with it earlier, using it for his own personal gain.

One of Hiram’s henchmen comes unties him at some point, pulling him into a standing position; he winces at the pins and needles feeling the spreads to his toes when he puts pressure on his left foot. His shoulders ache like never before.

Hiram circles around him like a hawk, looking him up and down; it leaves Archie with a nervous feeling in his chest.

“Are you gonna let me leave now?”

“Not quite.”

Hiram lands a swift kick to the back of Archie’s leg, sending him crashing to the floor; Archie groans when the side of his face smacks the concrete, rolling onto his back.

“You know, Archie, I remember how your father was in high school. He was constantly playing the mediator, always stuck in the middle of someone else’s fight.”

“Shut up.”

Hiram just glares at him, digs his heel into Archie’s bad foot, making him cry out in discomfort.

“Your father needs to learn to give up.”

“You’re just mad because you know that you can’t win.” Archie bites, groaning a little. He knows that arguing with him is futile, but he’s not going to let anyone badmouth his dad, not anymore; Fred has overcome too much this year to deserve that.

Hiram releases his heel from Archie’s foot only to move it to his chest, threatening to suffocate him.

“It seems that you’ve forgotten one important detail.”

Archie goes wide-eyed when Hiram’s shoe presses down on his lungs, restricting his air flow.

“I. _Always_. Win.”

He doesn’t let up until Archie is red in the face, eyes watering and practically gasping for air. Archie coughs once Hiram finally lets him breathe, rolling onto his side as much as he can manage. His relief only lasts a second before Hiram walks over and kicks Archie in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him once again.

“Tie him up,” Hiram says to someone out of Archie’s eyesight.

Whoever it is doesn’t even bother to sit him up, just leaves him lying on his side on the cold ground, wishing that he was somewhere else. He wants to cry but doesn’t have the energy, not right now, at least.

He thinks that he must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knows he’s slumped over in the backseat of a car, but his head hurts again, so someone must have knocked him out. Archie can’t see out of the window from this angle; the car makes a sharp turn, lurches to a stop and a car door opens only to slam shut again.

Archie tries to lift his head, he thinks he can hear his Dad somewhere outside of the car, wonders if he’s come to rescue him, to get him away from Hiram’s wrath.

The car door opens, and Hiram is there, reaching in to yank him out by his hoodie. It’s so bright that it makes his eyes hurt.

Archie is practically boneless, doesn’t have enough strength to hold himself up; his left foot still aches from the night before. He would face planted if it weren’t for the fact that Hiram is still holding him up. He glances up, sees his Dad standing there with a panicked, yet furious expression.

_God_ , he’s so exhausted.

“I told you what would happen if you tried to defy me, Fred,” Hiram says from somewhere behind Archie’s ear.

He lets go, and Archie would have smacked the pavement if Fred hadn’t rushed to catch him. Archie falls directly into his father’s lap, would curl into him if he thought he could move properly. One of Fred’s hands finds Archie’s neck, the other snaking around his waist; it’s like he’s holding him together.

“Hey, hey, Arch. I’m here. I got you.”

Archie wants to believe him, he does, but his head is swimming too much to think straight.

At some point, after he’s finally been untied, one of Fred’s hands grazes Archie’s stomach. He has a flashing, frightening memory of Hiram trying to rearrange his insides with his foot. The anxiety builds in him so fast Archie barely has time to push himself up before vomiting onto the cement, narrowly missing him fathers pant leg.

The two of them get up shortly after that, both of Archie’s arms around Fred’s neck, leaning on him heavily as they go inside.

He hadn’t even realized that he was home.

Fred doesn’t even bother trying to get him upstairs, just goes straight for the couch; Archie curls up as soon as he gets there, staring blankly at the wall as his Dad pulls a blanket over him, nestling his hand into Archie’s hair, a valiant attempt at soothing him.

Maybe this is all a dream. Maybe tomorrow he’ll wake up and none of this will be real. Maybe  _he’s_  not even real.

“Nothing like this ever gonna happen again, Archie,” Fred says quietly, sitting in front of him on the floor. “I’m gonna keep you safe… I promise.”

He shakes a little as he finally closes his eyes, tucks his head in as much as possible, trying to get as close as he can to his father, trying to remember what _safe_ felt like.

**Author's Note:**

> Archie is my fuckin fave if you couldn't already tell. 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Prompts/Comments/Kudos are encouraged and appreciated. Have a great day!


End file.
